Private Ernest Maddocks
Ernest was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England on September 11, 1873 and immigrated to Canada. He was employed as a bricklayer in Paris. He attended St James Anglican Church. He was single and 43 years old when he enlisted with the 125th Battalion in Paris. He served with the 25th Brant Dragoons before his enlistment.
Ernest was a member of the 9th Platoon that embarked aboard the S.S Scandinavia on February 12, 1916. The 9th and 10th Platoons were the first contingent of soldiers from Paris, nearly 100 men, to go overseas. was transferred to 124th Battalion on May 31, 1917. He was transferred again on July 4, 1918 to the 11th Battalion. Then on November 23, 1918, he proceeded to the Canadian General Base Depot, which was likely a "base depot" designed for managing personnel, equipment, or reinforcements in England or France before soldiers were sent to the front lines. In the case of Ernest, however, it seemed to operate in reverse. During World War I, myalgia was understood primarily as a physical, localized manifestation of environmental exposure, infectious disease, or psychological trauma. Military medical officers used it broadly as an official clinical diagnosis to categorize soldiers suffering from debilitating muscle pain that lacked an obvious external wound. What this common diagnosis seems to acknowledge is the physical and psychological hardships soldiers had been enduring throughout the war. Ernest Maddocks was discharged in Hamilton on April 1, 1919.